In September 2005 a consortium of European funding agencies started the four-year ERA-Net project called ASTRONET. The aim of ASTRONET is to come to a concise European plan for the next 15-20 years on astronomy in its widest form, encompassing all energies (from radio to gamma-rays including astro-particles), all instruments (ground-based, space-based and laboratory), and all aspects (from the sun and its planetary system to the big bang and early galaxy formation).